Building construction



Sept. 25 1923.

W. S. HOLMES BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 27. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3,2 EIIIII W. s. HOLMES BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Sept. 25,1923. 1,468,812

Filed Feb. 27. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /IIIIIIIIIIII/IIII[IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/III/IIIII/I/I l Z/l/II/IIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIII/l/IIIIIIIIIII/I/IIIIIII/(IIIIIIIII [I CIGSS EDD CIOrrzdorQ (ass 1207 6 Ill 8 mauve/Mo;

Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

WARREN S. HOLMES, OF LANSING, MICHIGAN.

BUILDINQ CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed February 27, 1922. Serial No. 539,486.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN S. HoLMns, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Lansing, in the county of Ingham and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Building Constructions, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

In the construction of large buildings, more particularly school buildings, it is very desirable that the arrangement be such that the various class and other rooms may be conveniently expanded or contracted in size, and it is oneof the objects of this invention to provide a construction and arrangement whereby the size of any room may be increased or diminished with facility and. without disturbing the lighting, heating, or ventilatin instrumentalities, or structural parts of t e building. I

A further object is to effect a saving in space and to simplify and cheapen construction in the arrangement of ventilating flues and cupboard, closet, or locker spaces. A further object of the present construction is to efiect a saving in space and cost of construction by utilizing hollow supporting piers as ventilatin ducts and to so arrange these piers that t e spacing between them may be conveniently used for cupboards, lockers, or coat'closets, and a further object is to provide an arrangement whereby a further natural lighting of the several rooms is secured and a very thorough ventilation provided.

WVith the above and other ends in view, the invention consists in providing a unit construction whereby a room may comprise one or more units and which units are in and of themselves complete, including thorough natural and artificial lighting, heating means for each unit, and ventilating means for each unit, whereby any one of the division walls between the several rooms may be torn down and replaced; to include another unit in the room or to subtract a unit from the room without interfering in the least with the heating, lighting, ventilating means, or supporting members of the build- 1n lhe invention further consists in providing one or more rows of piers which are formed with ventilating flues and form supports for the several floors and at the same time serve as means for ventilating the several rooms, said piers being spaced apart to provide spaces between them which may be conveniently utilized to provide cupboards, coat closets, lockers, or entrances for the rooms.

The invention consists further in the particular construction and arrangement of parts and in certain other new and useful features, all as hereinafter more fullydescribed and pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a floor plan of a portion of a building embodying the several features of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the building substantially upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

As usually constructed, school and similar buildings are rovided with a central longitudinal corri or with rooms arranged at each s de of this corridor, the corridor walls being continuous and containing flues for exhausting the air from the rooms and supplying fresh air to the "rooms. The rooms are usually of a substantially fixed size, that is, the size of the rooms cannot be increased or diminished without interfering with the natural or artificial lighting, with the heating arrangement, withfthe ventilation of'the room, or with walls supportin the floors. Further, in more modern schoo buildings, particularly in the lower grade class rooms, coat rooms are provided along the dividing walls between the rooms, as such rooms are necessary, and they cannot be placed against the outer wall be'causethey would shut oil the outside light and they cannot be conveniently placed against the corridor wall because they would take up too much of the width of the room and because this wall is usually of greater length than the necessary length of the coat room. When placed along the dividing walls, in order to increase the size of the room, it becomes necessary to tear out not only the partition but also the cloak room wall and as these Walls often support the floors and contain the different conduits for heating, lightin or ventilating, the whole system is inter cred with and it becomes quite a difiicult job whenever it is necessary to move a dividing wall in order to increase or diminish the size of the room.

ill

of the several floors and a series of class rooms 2 at each side of this corridor is adbored to. An arrangement for supplying fresh air to the several rooms is also provided, 'this arraignment consisting of a fresh air flue 3 located in the ceiling of each corridor and supplied with fresh air under pressure in any suitable and well known manner. Arranged alongeach side of the corridors is a series of piers 4, these piers extending from the floor of the basement vertically throu h the several floors to the roof of the buil ing, said piers of each row being spaced apart at regular intervals throughout the length of the building. These piers therefore form supports for the several floors and at the same time form a part of the corridor walls. By providing hollow piers or iers formed with a plurality of vertical ues or ducts, they may also be utilized to carry ofi the foul air from the several rooms.

In the outer walls of the building the usual uniformly spaced windows 5 are provided, a window being located directly 0pposite each of the piers 4 and therefore a room unit is provided comprising the space between center lines of the brick piers of the outside wall between the windows with preferably a single window 5 for each unit of space, a radiator 6 or other suitable heating means located directly beneath the window, lamps 7 for artificial lighting carried by the ceiling within this unit of space, and a pier 4 located directly opposite the center of the window at the side of the corridor and formed with an air fine or duct for carrying 0E the foul air from this unit of space. Fresh air is forced into each room unit by providing take-oil ducts 8 leading from the main air ducts 3 in the ceilings of the corridors, said take off ducts being located, one adjacent each pier, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1,.and opening into the several room units. Each room unit is therefore a complete room in itself, being naturally lighted by a window in the 'outer wall, taking up substantially the entire end of this unit of room space, heating means for each unit, artificial lighting means, ventilating means, and complete structural supporting means within each unit. As the exhaustair ducts are located within the several piers 4 and as these piers are located directly opposite the several windows in the outer wall, a dividing wall 9 may be erected between any two adjacent windows to extend across to the corridor wall and thus a seriesof rooms may be for-med at either side of the corridor, eac room comprising one or more room units and as each one of the dividing walls 9 carries no air fines, conduits or other structures forming part of the heating, lighting, or ventilating systems, or supporting members of the building, anyone of these divid- Messrs in walls may be readily removed and anotlier wall erected at a different place, taking away or adding to the room, one or more units without requiring changes in heating, lighting, ventilation or supporting parts of the building. These dividing partitions are built on the center lines of the spaces or piers in the outside walls between the windows thereof and extend to points intermediate adjacent piers along the corridor and therefore a space is provided between the inner end of each partition and adjacent pier of the corridor wall, providing an entrance from the corridor to each room.

In the building construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the building comprises a basement and two floors with an attic between the ceiling of the upper rooms and the roof 10. However buildings having one or more floors above the basement may be constructed upon the plan embodying the several features of the present invention. In the present construction two rows of piers 4 are provided extending vertically from the basement floor to the roof of the building and these piers are provided with two ducts or fines 11 and 12, the duct 12 extending from the lower end of the pier upwardly therethrough and opening at its upper end through the side of the ier into the attic 13.

Openings 14 are provi ed at the lower ends of the piers to take in thefoul air from the basement, these openings being arranged in accordance with the construction and arrangement of the several rooms of the basement, providing a flue in each pier for carrying off the foul air. Where the basement rooms are large rooms used for gymnasium and other purposes, these ducts may open directly through the sides of the several piers near the basement floor, as shown. The fines 11 are provided for carrying off the foul air from the second floor, a plan view of which floor is shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and where the building comprises only three floors, the foul air may be taken from the rooms of the upper floor through suitable sheet metal flues 15, shown in Fig.

2 and indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, be-

tween the several piers of each row, said fines 15 opening directly into the attic 13 from which the foul air is drawn in any suitable manner, as by a cupola or other ventilating device 16, and the foul air discharged into the atmosphere. The spaces between the piers 4 may be utilized in various ways according to the uses to which the several rooms are to be put, as for instance, it may be desirable in some cases to utilize each space as a cloak room by providing doors 17 therefor opening into the adjacent room or it may be desirable to utilize a ortion of this space at the room side thereo as a cup board or book case,'as indicated at 18, the case being provided with doors 19 into the room, and in other instances it may be desirable, asin connection with higher school ades, to provide a series of lockers, as indicated at 20, these lockers opening through the corridor wall into the corridor between the several piers. In those instances where individual lockers are installed, the space need not be very deep and therefore the room side of the space between the piers ma be utilized as cupboard space 18.

n the arrangement where the space between the piers is utilized by providing lockers opening into the corridor and cupboards or cases opening into the adjacent room, it is preferable to leave a narrow space 21 between the back of the lockers and the back of the case and to provide an entrance flue 22 below the lower end of the cupboard or case communicating with this space 21 and to also provide an opening 23 in one of the adjacent piers near the ceiling of the space afiording communication with the air duct 11 in the pier. With this arrangement, foul air will be drawn from the room through the opening 22 and this air will pass up through the space 21 and be exhausted into the attic through the flue 11. It is usually desirable to ventilate the lockers and to provide such ventilation, an opening 24 is provided in the back of each locker adjacent the lower end thereof with a suitable flap or deflector 25 extending inwardly and downwardly of the space 21 adjacent the upper side of said opening so that a portion of the air entering the passage 22 from the roooni will be deflected or directed into the lower end of each locker and, passing upwardly therein, will be discharged through a suitable grating 26 in the upper wall of the locker and then pass out through the opening 23 into the flue 11.

Where the arrangement comprises cloak rooms between the several piers which are closed by doors 17, an opening 27 is pro vided at the lower end of the door adjacent the floor to permit the foul air from the room to enter the cloak room, pass upwardly therein and thence out through the opening 23 in the pier, providing an adequate discharge of the foul air from the room and at the same time providing ventilated cloak rooms. In a like manner the spaces between the piers at the upper floor may be utilized as cloak rooms, the foul air being drawn oil through the sheet metal ventilating fiues 15, as previously described, and discharged into the attic, or, where it is not desirable to utilize the space between the piers, this space may be closed by permanent walls which are spaced apart and thus provide a flue between them, as indicated at 28, Fig. 2, which fiue opens directly at its upper end into the attic.

posite the several windows in the outer walls, the dividing walls 9 are always located midway between piers 4, and a suitable entrance vestibule 29 is afforded by this arrangement at the corner of each room, and a door 30 may be hung at the inner or room side of this vestibule with-the door swinging outwardl into the vestibule instead of swinging into the corridor.

The width of room unit adopted for the building is determined by the size of class room required, each class room being a multiple of this unit, and the spacing of the piers will be made to correspond therewith sothat each pier will be directly opposite the vertical centerline of a window, but in every instance the construction provides a room unit which is complete in that it contains a window 5 for natural lighting, lamps, or other lighting means 7 carried by the ceiling, a radiator or other heating element 6 and a complete, ventilating inlet for forcing fresh air into the room unit from the main duct 3 in'the ceiling of the corridor and opening into the room unit near the ceiling, and an exhaust air flue within the pier which is located at the corridor end of the unit. Very eflicient ventilation of large rooms is therefore secured in that a large room has several piers located along the corridor wall of the room-and each pier contains an exhaust air flue for drawing air from the room adjacent the floor line and a corresponding fresh air inlet is provided near the ceiling of each unit.

The arrangement also provides for efficient natural lighting of each room unit in that the window 5 for each unit occupies nearly the entire outer wall of the end of the unit and, as shown, these windows are preferably extended to the full height of the room so that the light entering the window will be deflected by the white wall of the ceiling and aflord very etlicient lighting of the desks of the children sitting in the room, such construction being permissible as the ceiling construct-ion includes within it lintels for the windows and girders carried by the piers 4.

In buildings which are particularly constructed for the accomodation of the high schools or the higher grades where it is desirable that each pupil be provided with a locker opening into the corridor and ample cases may be provided for the rooms, a saving of space may be effected by constructing the piers 4 with their greatest length in cross section extending lengthwise of the corridor. Less space is taken from the room by the piers in this arrangement but the spaces between the piers is still suflicient to provide for lockers and cases with an air space 21 between the back of the lockers and the back of the cases. Where the lockers and cases are arranged back to back and the lockers are ventilated by by-passing a por- I the floor, one of the tion of the air'through the openings 24 near the lower ends of the lockers, these openings 24 are preferably located at a short distance above the floor of the lockers so that dirt or dust accumulating on the door of the locker will not be in the path of the air stream to be carried thereb upwardly into the clothing hung in the other and anything droppeing upon the door of the locker will not lost through the air flue.

Obviously changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the several elements to suit the particular conditions 05 installation and all such changes within the scope of the appende claims are contemplated and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. do not, therefore, limit myself to the specific construction shown.

Havin thus fully described my invention, what I c aim is 1. A. building construction wherein an outer wall is provided with a series of windows for the admission of light to a plurality of rooms extendin inwardly from said wall, said rooms each comprising one or more room units each of which units includes a window of said outer wall, heating means for said unit, artificial lighting means for said unit and a pier position at the inner end of said unit opposite said window to provide a support for the ceiling and floor above, and provided with a ventilating flue opening into said room unit, the piers of the several room units being spaced apart with each pier positioned centrally of the inner end of each unit and opposite the window of the unit, whereby a fixed and permanent ventilating flue is provided for each unit by said supporting pier and a dividing wall devoid of lighting, heating and ventilating means and the space at either side of the pier may be utilized as part of said unit 2. A building construction as characterized in claim 1 and wherein said dividing wall extends from between adjacent windows in the outer wall to a point intermediate said piers at the opposite end of the room, whereby an entrance is provided at the corner of the room between said wall and an adjacent pier.

3. A building construction as characterized in claim 1 and wherein said construction includes a plurality of floors with said piers extending through all of the floors and each pier formed with a plurality of separate flues.

4. A building construction as characterized in claim 1 and wherein said piers are spaced apart and said spaces between said piers' are provided with closures having air entrances from the several rooms adjacent iers adjacent each space being provided with a lateral opening as fall insects adjacent the ceiling of said space a'dording communication between thenpper part of said and a fins in said poor.

5. building construction as characterized in claim-1 and wherein said piers are spaced apart with lockers and cases in certain of saidspaces, other of said spaces affording entrances to said room and said lockers and case in each space being plamd back to back'with an air space between said backs, an entrance opening to said space between said backs being provided at the room side and a pier adjacent to said 7 being provided with an opening idiom communication between said space and a flue in said pier, and saidlockers being provided I with air inlets adjacent their lower ends opening into said space at the back thereof and with openings at their upper ends to permit the discharge of air into the space to be discharged into said flue, and a deflector secured to the back of each locker over said air inlet and extending inwardly and downwardly of said space between the back of the locker and the back of said case.

6. In a building construction wherein outer walls are each provided with a series of windows for the admission of Ii ht to a pluralitfisof rooms extending inwardly from said wa two parallel spawd rows of piers with the iers of each row spaced apart and providing a central corridor, said piers being provided with flues for drawing air from said rooms and certain of said spaces between said piers providing entrances to said rooms, and closures for the spaces between certain piers, said closed spaces having air entrance openings adjacent the room floor and said piers adjacent said closed spaces being provided with openings adja cent the upper ends of said spaces for affording communication between said spaces and the lines in said piers to draw air from the room through said closed spaces.

7. In a building construction wherein a plurality of floors is provided with an attic above the upper floor and with outer walls each having a series of windows for the admission of light to a pluralitv of rooms on each floor extending inwardly from said outer walls, two spaced parallel longitudinal rows of piers extending through all of the floors to the attic to support the building structure and forming a central longitudi-- nal corridor at each floor, said piers being formed with'flues for drawing air from the rooms of the several floors and discharging the same into the attic, room units at each side of the corridor of each floor, said units each including a window of the outer wall, a pier, heating means adjacent the window, and artificial lighting means supported by the ceiling of the unit, said rooms comprising one or more of said room units with dividing walls between the rooms extending from an outer wall between windows there- In testimon whereof I afiix my signature in to midway between adjacent piers of one in presence 0 two witnesses. of the row of piers and providing. an entrance vestibuIe to the rooms between said I WARREN HOLMES 5 wall and adjacent piers, and a door to close Witnesses: the room side of the vestibule forming an ANNA M. Donn,

entrance to each room. LEWIS E. Fmmmns. 

